The small boat travels silently and quickly through the black water. I look down at the ripples, which seem to die before they even fully begin. Kreacher trembles, trying to make himself as small as possible as his large eyes scan the cave at such a speed at times it seems as though he is looking at two places at once.

There is crunch and the boat stops, indicating that we’ve reached the other side. Kreacher looks up at me pleadingly, and I realize that he thinks I’m going to make him do what The Dark Lord did.

“Wonderful, Kreacher, you’ve done brilliantly,” I say mustering up a smile for him. “I need to ask one more thing of you, however.”

Kneeling down in front of him, sharp rocks digging through my pant leg and into my knee, I savour the pain. He looks everywhere but at me, taking in big gulps of air and preparing for the worst. I swallow and take his thin arms in my hands.

“Kreacher, look at me,” I command and his eyes slowly come to meet mine. “I order you to take the locket after I am done drinking out of the basin, replace it with this one, and leave this place without me,” I say, placing the duplicate locket in his hand and curling his gnarled fingers around it. He shakes his little head, but doesn’t break eye contact.

“No, Kreacher,” I say firmly. “I order you to destroy the locket once you’ve left, whatever it takes, Kreacher, you understand?”

“What will she think? Oh! What will she think of, Kreacher?”he asks, thumping his head against my chest and wailing. I remove his little hands from the front of my robes.

“Kreacher, this is most important,” I murmur and he looks up at me teary-eyed. “You are not to tell any member of my family, Death Eaters, or The Dark Lord about this. None of them must ever know. It’s to protect my family and you.”

“But… She will be so terribly sad… Oh, so terribly distraught!”he moans before curling into a ball and rocking back and forth, whimpering about my mother’s distress.

“But do you understand, Kreacher?” I ask calmly, watching as he nods.

From there I stand, walk over to the basin, and look down at the locket, and then slide down to the ground and placing my head in my hands.

“Is master Regulus, alright?” Kreacher croaks from where he sits a little ways away, still rocking.

“Yes, Kreacher, I just need some time to think, alright? It might be a little while,” I say wiping away my belated tears of regret and fear.

“Of, course, master Regulus, whatever you want,” he says and then he’s silent.

---

Author's Note: Thank you all for reading my new story Fallacy. There have been many attempts at writing at story with this title, but I believe I've found the perfect one! So, again, thank you for reading and your thoughts on it would be wonderful!